


Changes

by Frost_FallXVII



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Car Accidents, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Pining, between pp1 and pp2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frost_FallXVII/pseuds/Frost_FallXVII
Summary: The Staubrey side of what happens in my Wattpad book "I Wish That I Had Jesse's Girl" except it's rewritten.Just as they approach the intersection Chloe looks over at Aubrey just in time to see the truck fly right through the stop sign heading straight for Aubrey's side of the car. "Oh My God! Watch Out!". (There is equal Staubrey and Bechloe in this story, even though the main focus is Staubrey.)
Relationships: Chloe Beale & Aubrey Posen, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Stacie Conrad & Beca Mitchell, Stacie Conrad/Aubrey Posen
Comments: 21
Kudos: 58





	1. 4,554lbs of Metal

It was the Monday after the nationals, they had spent that whole weekend celebrating with each other living off the high of winning. They had a month left before the end of the school year and while they would have liked to celebrate more they knew it would have to wait until after finals.

They were all looking forward to the end of the year because that's when they would be heading up to Jessica's family cabin in North Carolina. It would be two weeks with all the Bella's being together, including Aubrey.

Aubrey was taking Chloe out to celebrate her second ICCA's win before things got too busy with the end of the year and such. Chloe had only broken the news to her a few days ago about not graduating again this year to have more time with the Bella's. While Aubrey wasn't happy at first she quickly got over it knowing that no matter how hard she tried you couldn't talk Chloe out of anything. 

Aubrey was driving them to their favorite restaurant that they had discovered their sophomore year, it was about an hour out of Atlanta right past Covington. It was all back roads to get there so it took a little bit longer but it was a scenic drive so both girls enjoyed it. 

They pulled up to the top of a hill at the end of this small town and with Aubrey's car being stick when they pulled out Chloe freaked out as the drifted back slightly. "I don't know why you love driving manual cars. Going back like that freaks me out." Chloe said.

Aubrey let out a slight laugh, "You get used to it, besides I only do it to freak you out." Aubrey then looked over at Chloe who just made a face at her.

"I know I say this every time I'm in this car but I love it." Chloe said looking at the interior.

Aubrey smiled sadly. While she loved this car too, it always made her a little sad thinking about it. It was her moms, she bought it new when Aubrey was nine when she deemed the Dodge Caravan no longer necessary. It was a 1998 Toyota Celica, not exactly a family car but her mom loved JDM's. This was to her fathers dismay as he drove only American made cars.

When Aubrey's mom had died of cancer when Aubrey was 12, her dad kept her car to give to Aubrey when she was 16. Aubrey had many memories of her and her mom taking trips in this car while her dad was deployed. She felt like this car was one of the last piece she had left of her mom.

As they drove out of town it was a straight shot to the restaurant they were heading to. It was 55 mph (or 88.51 kph for those who don't use the metric system) so they turned on some music while cruising down singing along to the songs.

Five minutes of just sitting and singing Chloe lowered the music. "Hey, I like this song." complained Aubrey.

"I'll restart it in a sec, I just have one question for you." Aubrey rolled her eyes knowing what Chloe was going to ask. "How are you and your mystery women doing?"

"We are doing good." She said keeping it short and simple.

"Just good? Come on you two have been dating for a while now, when I am gonna learn who she is?" Chloe said pushing a little. Aubrey hadn't exactly told her who she was dating Chloe just noticed a change in her when she met up with her after summer break. It took her a little while to figure out that it was because of the mystery person she was dating, then it took another month to get Aubrey to actually admit she was dating someone.

"She just wants to keep our relationship between us for now and enjoys the privacy of it being just us two." says Aubrey, "Beside as soon as we are both ready to put our relationship out in the open you will be the first to know."

"Can you at least tell me if it's someone who works at the lodge? Or someone who came to the lodge?"

"Fraternizing with a client would be highly frowned upon and completely unprofessional." Aubrey says. "Besides I started dating them at the end of the summer before I had even transitioned to the lodge."

Chloe eye's widened, "So it's someone from Barden then."

Aubrey turned slightly red at that chastising herself for her body having that reaction. "Oh my god it's a Bella!" Chloe said exactly as she put two and two together.

"That's it we are done, no more talking about my love life. What's going on in yours, didn't Beca break up with Jesse?" Aubrey said quickly changing the subject.

"You know they did, don't try and distract me." Chloe said

As they continued talking and they were approaching an intersection where they had no stop signs but the intersecting roads did. While they were approaching the intersection a large Dodge Ram was driving towards the intersection.

Just as they approach the intersection Chloe looks over at Aubrey just in time to see the truck fly right through the stop sign heading straight for Aubrey's side of the car.

"Oh My God! Watch Out!" Chloe yelled as Aubrey looked and tried to swerve and avoid the truck that was coming towards them. But it was too late, the truck t-boned into Aubrey's side of the car flipping the car onto its right side.

The truck continued going after hitting them and continued to push their car forward causing the metal to make a shrieking sound against the macadam. The truck continued pushing them until eventually Aubrey car slide out of the way falling off the road and into the ditch beside it landing on its right side. The truck that had hit them and continued driving forward until it hit head on at a tree finally stopping it.

The next thing Chloe notices is the smell. The smell of all the fluids from the car leaking and the smell of the metal makes her gag with how pungent is. She then feels something wet dripping onto her. She looks to her side and sees Aubrey slumped over still buckled into her seat. She noticed that the wet stuff she was feeling was Aubreys blood dripping onto her. 

She then noticed how much blood there was, hers and Aubrey's. Aubrey looked lifeless laying there so she grabbed on her hands and felt for a pulse.

She felt one, thank god.

Suddenly she heard other people coming over to the car. They were all yelling and asking if she was okay but everything was too much.

"Ma'am! Ma'm can you hear me?" She looked up through Aubrey window and saw this elderly women looking in.

"Y-Yes I can." Chloe said lightly, it hurt everywhere.

"Okay the ambulance is on there way, they should be here soon but in the mean time we need to get you out of the car before it catches fire. One of the men that was driving by is a mechanic and he said that with all the fluid leaking you need to get out." 

Then a man appeared beside the older lady and looked at Aubrey's door. "Miss," He said politely but with urgency in his voice. "Her side is jammed in and we won't able to open the door you'll need to break open the windshield and climbed out through there."

"What about my friend?" Chloe says looking at the unconscious Aubrey. "Should I try and pull her out?"

The man looked at her sadly and said. "I don't think you will be able to with your arm like that."

Chloe looked down for the first time and saw the middle section of her left arm bent at an unnatural angle. It was the first time she really looked at herself and saw she wasn't in great condition either.

Chloe unbuckled herself and got her legs in a position to kick out the windshield, it wasn't hard to do since it had cracked on impact with the truck. The windshield shattered and she crawled out trying her best not to use her broken arm. 

Once she was out of the car she saw how many people were around, there were cars lined up of the side of the road and people all over helping her and the truck that was slammed into the tree.

Chloe could see the car for the first time and it was a wonder even they were alive. The car was on it's right side while Aubrey side had crumbled and packed into its self. 

She looked into the car and saw Aubrey just lying there. "Okay we need to get her friend out-" But before the man could finish the back part of the car suddenly caught fire. "The fluids must have gotten to the exhaust pipe." Said the man Chloe presumed to be the mechanic. 

Chloe would have started freaking out had she suddenly not felt so dizzy, she stumbled a little until someone caught her. Her vision started going in and out but she could faintly hear sirens in the distance.

"Aubrey..." she mumbled as she looked at her best friend in the burning car, then suddenly she blacked out.


	2. Bored

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update, guess who got Covid 19! I was in the hospital for a little so that's why update took so long. As I am recovering I will update slowly.

“Ugh I’m so bored!” Stacie says walking up the stairs into Beca and Fat Amy’s room.

Beca jumps taking off her headphones. “Jesus Stacie give me some warning you’re coming up next time.” She then turned back to her computer with her headphones sitting around her neck.

“Sorry Becs.” Stacie said flopping onto her bed.

“What did you get up to last night.” Beca says making conversation even though her full attention is in her computer working on the Bella’s victory tour setlist.

Stacie blushes slightly and she blushes. “Oh nothing…” She says trailing off.

“Sounds like fun.” She says mindlessly.

“Beca! You’re not listening to me!”

“What?” Beca says turning in her desk chair to face her.

“You aren’t listening to me! I came up here to spend time with my best friend.”

“Not my fault you’re always busy with your girlfriend when I have time to hang out.”

“Shhhh.” Stacie says. “Be quiet when you say that, we don’t want anyone else knowing.”

“Well then you shouldn’t have been having sex in the Bella’s house in the first place. You’re lucky I was the one who walked in on you two.”  
“Well we didn’t even have sex; we would have had you not walked in on us.” Stacie says complaining.

“You’re insatiable.” Beca before turning back onto her computer.

They just sat in silence for a little while, Stacie on her phone and Beca working on the setlist. 

“Do you know what time Chloe and Aubrey get back tonight?” Stacie then says breaking the silence.

“Uh I think Chloe said sometime around 8. She’s coming up to listen to what I’ve got so far. So, if you’re spending the night at Aubrey’s I would leave then.”

“Perfect.” Stacie says before turning back to her phone.

They are silent for little bit longer before Stacie throws her phone on the bed, having gotten bored with Instagram. Beca continues to work as Stacie just stares up at the ceiling.

She starts thinking about Aubrey and automatically gets a big smile on her face. They had been together for about 9 months now and things were going great. Like a dream in Stacie’s opinion.

She knew Aubrey felt the same way, they have had many talks about the future and seemed to both be on the same page. Sure, it might have only been 9 months together but really Stacie considered them together since they kissed for the first time after celebrating their first ICCA win.

They never talked about the kiss, but they continued talking to each other. They continued their normal flirting friendly conversation until it slowly became more. It evolved to everyday phone calls, constant text conversations and the occasionally facetime.

Two weeks before the start of Stacie’s sophomore year she flew from Seattle to Atlanta to surprise Aubrey. She had confessed the feelings she had been harboring for the girl her whole freshmen year and she could only hope Aubrey felt the same.

Since then had been madly in love.

They just fit so well together, where Aubrey lacked Stacie made up and vice versa.

“I think…” Stacie said pausing for little. “I think Aubrey’s it for me.” She said finishing her sentence.

She looked over at Beca and saw her pause her mix and face her.

“I’m sorry what?” Beca said slightly aghast. “I don’t think I heard you right.”

Stacie laughed a little seeing Beca now giving her full attention to her. “I said I think Aubrey is it for me. Like one day, hopefully, I’ll marry her.”

Beca smiled at her. “Oh my god is the Stacie Conrad talking about commitment. In all my 10 years of knowing you I have never heard you talk about marriage in a positive way.”

“Shut up!” Stacie said blushing.

“No seriously you always were like ‘marriage is not for me’ or ‘I wouldn’t want to be with the one person forever’.” Beca says. “What changed?”

Stacie just looks at her and gives Beca a real smile. “Aubrey.” But before Beca could respond Stacie’s phone rang. 

“Hello.”

“Yes, this is her, may I ask whose calling.”

“From Emory hospital? But…”

“Oh my god.”

“Yes we will be right there.” Stacie then hung up looking at Beca with tears in her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (cough motivation cough cough)


	3. I Thought She Was Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a doctor so my information may be wrong, but I tried!

Beca drove Stacie and her to the hospital. Stacie wasn’t in any condition to drive so Beca drive her car instead. On the way over, Stacie called and let the other girls know what was going on.

She told them to stay at the house until they knew the condition Aubrey and Chloe were in. They shouldn’t all go to the hospital if all they were going to be doing would be waiting in the waiting room for hours. 

After letting the Bella’s know she sat in the passenger seat of her car just staring out the window. She tried her best not to cry but it was hard for her knowing what had happened to Aubrey.

Beca was close to tears as well. She didn’t want to cry in front of Stacie. The last time she cried in front of her was when they were in 9th grade and Beca’s parents told her they were getting a divorce. A few tears slipped out this time but that was it. She tried not to think about what had happened to Chloe.

Beca wiped the tears out of her eyes and glanced at Stacie, she doesn’t think she had ever seen Stacie cry. There was that once time she got a ‘C’ on a science test in 5th grade and she cried thinking she wasn’t smart anymore. But when Beca showed Stacie her ‘F’ that she got it cheered her right up knowing that she was still smarter than her best friend.

She wishes that there was something that she could do for Stacie now to make her feel better. She would never admit it out loud, but she hated seeing her friends in pain.

“Hey Stace?” Beca said getting the taller girl’s attention.

Stacie sniffled and wiped her eyes, “Yeah.”

“Did they say what happened?”

“All the women on the phone said to me was they were t-boned on the driver’s side by a truck. There conditions are still unknown as they are both in surgery.”

Beca just nodded her head, she sat silent for a while before asking, “Why did they call you?”

“I’m Aubrey’s emergency contact, as well as Chloe and her Father. They couldn’t get a hold of her Dad right now, but somebody is trying to get the message to him and well, Chloe was in the car with her.”

They were silent in the car the rest of the way to the hospital. They arrived 10 minutes later to the hospital and when they went in and asked the women at the front desk to direct them where to go.  
“Aubrey Posen is in the ICU on the 5th floor and Chloe Beale just got out of surgery. She is on the 3rd floor in room #309 you can go and visit her now if you’d like.”

“What about Aubrey, can we visit her?” Stacie asks.

“Are you her family member?” Ask’s the women. “Because only family members and significant others are allowed in.”

“She’s her significant other.” Beca cuts in before Stacie can answer. 

The women look’s Stacie up and down before telling her she’s free to go. Beca tells Stacie she is going to call the other Bella’s and let them know they can come and visit Chloe.

The elevator dinged and opened up to the fifth floor. Stacie walked out and looked around unsure which way the ICU was. A nurse saw her looking confused and asked her where she was headed. She gave her directions to the ICU and Stacie was on her way.

When Stacie made it around the last bend of the hallway she looked straight ahead and was met with bright blue doors. Right above the doors was the words written in red ‘Intensive Care Unit’. She walked up and read the sign telling her to use the wall phone for admittance. 

She pressed the button and the man on the other side asked who she was. She replied saying she was Stacie Conrad, Aubrey Posen emergency contact and that’s who she was here to see.

They let her in telling her she was in the room #505.

Stacie walked through the ICU looking at each of the room, they had a frosty glass sliding door on each of them with the numbers written in bold over each of the rooms. There were heart monitors

She walked up to Aubrey rooms and stared at the glass. Stacie put her hand on the door handle and paused. Her stomach was dropping and her heart in her throat. She was terrified of walking in and seeing Aubrey and how she looked. She tried to mentally prepare herself but imagining what was on the other side of this door just sent tears to her eyes.

As a tear rolled down her cheek before she took a deep breath and slide the door open.

+++

It takes another 30 before all the other Bella’s arrive at the hospital. They are all sitting in the 3rd floor waiting room before they are told by a nurse that Chloe is a awake and they can see her now. Beca shoots up and practically sprints to Chloe’s room.

When Beca walks looks Chloe up and down before her eyes water slightly. Her right arm is in a cast and she has bruises all over her body. Her leg has a huge band aid on it and her head is wrapped up. Right underneath the band aid she had one black eye.

Her eyes were closed but when she hears the door they open up and she gets a big smile on her face. “Becs!” She said, her voice groggy from the anesthesia.

Beca smiles back at her before saying, “It’s not just me, we are all here.”

After she says that the rest of the Bella’s fill into the room slowly. A bunch of ‘Hey Chlo’ and ‘How are you’ fill the room.

She looks at all the girls, Beca, CR, Fat Amy, Jessica, Ashley, Flo, Lily and… that’s it. No Stacie.

Chloe just smiled at all of them before her face suddenly drops. “Oh my god, Aubrey.” She says slightly panicking.

Beca quickly walks over to the side of Chloe’s bed and takes her hand. “Hey, calm down. You need to stay calm.”

Chloe just stares at Beca with wide eyes and then looks to the other girls. Her blue eyes start to fill with tears and she slowly starts crying. She tightens her hold on Beca’s hand and soon those small tears turn into heavy sobs at the realization of what just happened.

Cynthia Rose puts her hand onto Beca’s shoulder and whispers to her “We’ll be out in the waiting room, maybe all of us coming in at once was too much.”

Beca nods and mouths the girls thank you as all but Beca leave the room.

Chloe just cry’s and hold onto Beca with her good arm as Beca sits there being a shoulder to cry on. It takes a while for the sobs to down into small whimpers, but eventually it becomes silent. Beca waiting for Chloe to break the silence first.

“I thought she was dead.” Chloe says in a small voice, so low Beca could barely hear.

“Hmm” 

“Aubrey, I… she looked so lifeless. I felt her pulse and it was there, but it was faint.” Chloe the turned to look at Beca. “Is she… I mean is she alive? Did she make it to the hospital?”

Beca was fighting her own tears at this point. Chloe looked so hopeless and said, it was killing Beca to see the girl she loved in so much pain. Physically and emotionally.

“I-She’s alive but she is in the ICU right now. I don’t know any more about her condition, but I can ask Stacie- “

“Stacie?” Chloe said puzzled. “Why would Stacie know her condition? She’s in the ICU, isn’t that for family only.”

Beca widened her eyes. She figured this isn’t how Stacie and Aubrey wanted Chloe to learn about them, but she had said too much.

“The ICU is also for significant others…” Beca said trailing off the let Chloe figure it out on her own.

The redhead just sat there for a second before her eyes widened. Aubrey’s mysterious women she refused to tell her about, dating them at the end of the summer when Stacie would be back in Atlanta.

“Oh my god! Stacie and Aubrey are dating!” Chloe said turning towards Beca again, who looked at her sheepishly. “But you don’t seem shocked?”

“Yeah that’s because I had already known.”

“They told you but not me! I get that being Stacie’s best friend but Aubrey’s mine.” Chloe said a bit hurt.

“Oh, they didn’t tell me, I walked in on them having sex.”

Chloe felt a little bit better after that, but then slightly grossed out because Stacie was her roommate and she had been on her bed many times while her and Stacie studied together.

“Ew.” Chloe said looking disgusted before she softened up saying. “Aw, I’m so happy for them.”

Beca laughed at how quickly Chloe turned around, but she was happy she was getting her mind off of the accident. 

They continued talking, and while Chloe wasn’t normal self, that was to be expected. She had just been in a major car accident. But she knew with time she would bounce back.

Chloe looked more tired as they talked and Beca told her to get some rest. She stood up and kissed the redhead’s forehead before leaving. But as she got to the door, she heard her name being called.

“Yes Chlo?”

“When you get an update on Aubrey, please let me know. I’m really worried about her.”

Beca nodded “I’ll let you know when I come and visit tomorrow, sleep well Chlo.”

As Beca walked back to the waiting room to round up the rest of the Bella’s, she could only pray that Aubrey would make it through this.

+++ 

She put her hand on the doorknob and pulled open the door open that was separating her and Aubrey. The door slid open and she walked inside taking in everything.

There on the bed laid Aubrey, unresponsive. Her left leg in an immobilizer with a giant band aid wrapped around it. She was in a white gown that covered her torso, but it left her arms uncovered. Her left side was covered in bruises and cuts, and while her right side had some it was nothing compared to the left.

Aubrey’s neck a mark that was most likely left from the seat belt, just a red line across her throat. At the top of Aubrey’s head, she had band aids wrapped around with a netting covering it.

Beside her was a machine that had breathing tubes connected to a piece that was in Aubrey’s mouth. The piece connected to her mouth was wrapped around her head and with every beep of the machine Aubrey’s chest rose and fell. Stacie knew she was looking at a ventilator and the thought of Aubrey not being able to breathe on her own scared her more than anything else.

Stacie let out a sob as she moved closer to the women she was in love with. She sat down in the chair right beside Aubrey’s bed. She wanted to hold her hand, but she looked so fragile Stacie was scared to touch her.

Stacie just sat and cried before she heard a knock on the door. She quickly wiped her tears before telling them to come in.

In walked and older man and Stacie could only assume that was Aubrey’s doctor. “Hi, I’m Dr. Lee. You’re Stacie correct? Listed as her emergency contact?”

“Yes I am.” Stacie said her voice shaky.

He nodded before pulling up a chair and sitting down next to her. “We’ve tried contacting her father, but we are having trouble reaching him at the moment, but I’m glad she has someone here.”

Stacie understood as Aubrey had told her that her father was deployed to an unknown location right now. Hopefully the messaged would be passed to him soon.  
“We need to discuss Aubrey’s condition and if she wakes up what the action plan will be.”

“If?” Stacie said horrified.

The doctor sighed before looking Stacie in the eyes. “I’m sorry ma’am but your friend has fallen into a prolonged state of unconsciousness, also known as a coma.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Motivation (aka comments) please!!


	4. She Has to Wake Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be up very shortly!

“A coma?” Stacie repeated back to the doctor. “But how?”

“She experienced a traumatic brain injury in the accident along with other bodily injuries. From the imagining done and the intraventricular catheter it showed that her brain is swelling. As of right now we can only assume that’s what the cause of the coma is from. We will be able to tell when there is more testing done. But for right now we are monitoring the swelling and if the pressure from the swelling builds up in the skull the next step is to perform a decompressive craniectomy.” The doctor said calmly to Stacie.

“What’s a decompressive craniectomy?” Stacie asked, sure she was in the science field, but she didn’t know too many medical terms as that was not her field of study. 

“It’s when a part of the skull is removed to allow a swelling brain room to expand without being squeezed. Hopefully that will not be needed, if her swelling remains at the level it is currently at, we should be good.” 

Stacie just sat there in shock. It was so much information to take in and it was all be thrown at her at once. She looked over at Aubrey and her stomach dropped at the thought of everything going on. Stacie then looked at the doctor and took a deep breath preparing for the next conversation. “What are her chances of waking up?”

The doctor took a deep breath. “That all depends on how long she remains in this vegetative state. It’s not an exact science but most patients who fall into a coma due to a brain injury, if they are in a vegetative for a month or longer, they will fail to improve may remain vegetative and/or will die.”

Stacie let out a sob, she could only pray that Aubrey would wake up soon. “How will we know when she is waking up?”

“Recovery is usually gradual, with patients becoming more and more aware over time. They may be awake and alert for only a few minutes the first day, but gradually stay awake for longer and longer periods.”

Stacie just nodded her head as she listened to the doctor. They continued to talk about what recovery would look like and what will happen if she wakes up. 

“If you have any questions just reach out to me.” The doctor said while standing up getting ready to leave.

“Thank you.” Stacie said as the doctor reached out his hand to shake hers.

“And I’d hate to rush you but visiting hours are over in 15 minutes. You should probably go home and rest. Visitation opens tomorrow at 8:30 am.” Then the doctor walked out the door leaving Stacie alone with Aubrey.

She sat in silence looking over Aubrey. She eventually carefully grabbed her right hand and held it in hers. With a shaky breath she lifted Aubrey’s hand and gave her a kiss on the outside of her palm and said, “I’ll be here with you every day until you wake up, and when you do, I’ll be here every step of the way. I love you.”

She then stood up and exited the room. On her drive back to the Bella’s house she didn’t listen to music. She drove in silence trying to process everything that had happened today.

She tried her best to think overly positive and that Aubrey would eventually regain consciousness. But the realist in her wouldn’t allow her to believe it for to long. 

She just had to prepare herself for whatever the outcome was going to be.

+++

All the Bella’s were sitting in the living room waiting for Stacie to arrive home and update them on Aubrey’s condition. They watched as the front door open and went straight upstairs, not even bothering with any of them.

“That can’t be a good sign.” Cynthia Rose said after watching Stacie head upstairs not even acknowledging them.

They all muttered in agreement, then Fat Amy spoke up. “Well how would you guys feel if the person you’ve had a crush on for the past year was in the ICU.”

“Wait Stacie likes Aubrey?” Flo asked.

“Where have you been for the past year?” Ashely asks. “She’s had a crush on her since forever.”  
Jessica just shook her head. “I mean she has never confirmed it but from how often they hung out during Aubrey’s senior year and how often Stacie still talks about her it’s pretty clear.”

Then Fat Amy speaks up again. “It’s a shame because from what Chloe says apparently Aubrey talks about her a lot too.”

Beca was stiff during this whole conversation, while she knew the other girls had theories that Stacie liked Aubrey, she tried her best never to get involved because she knew the truth. If they asked her about Stacie, she wasn’t sure how easily she would be able to lie about it. Especially if the person who asked her was Chloe. 

“Should one of us go and check on her?” Flo said speaking up again.

“I vote Beca.” Fat Amy interjected. The rest of those girls shook their heads in agreement.

“Guys I don’t know normally when Stacie is upset like this she just wants to be left alone.”

“Yeah but maybe it was really bad news and she needs a shoulder to cry on?” Cynthia Rose said. “Plus, you guys have been friends for like 10 plus years, she would rather see you then any of us.”

Beca just let out a huff of air before standing up. “Fine I’ll go check on her but if she kicks me out, I told you so.” She then left the living room and headed up stairs to Chloe and Stacie’s room.

She could hear Stacie crying from outside the door. She waited a little but the sobs weren’t slowing down she lightly knocked on the door and said, “Stace… It’s me Beca can I come in?”

It was quiet for a little while and Beca assumed Stacie wasn’t going to answer so she turned to leave but then she heard the door room open. Beca turned around and Stacie face was all red and tears where still in her eyes. They just stared at each other for little before Stacie moved over a little and motioned for Beca to enter the room.

After she entered Stacie room, she shut the door and they both sat on Stacie’s bed. Beca was waiting for Stacie to start the conversation because she knows nothing good would come out of it if she asked first. Beca learned very quickly that you have to wait for Stacie to come to when she is upset.

It was quiet but then Stacie said in a small voice. “She’s in a coma. The doctors don’t know if she’ll ever wake up.”

Beca looked at the taller girl horrified; she was expecting something bad but not that.

“They uhh… they aren’t sure if there’s any brain damage, they still have to run some more test but for right now all they know is that her brain keeps swelling causing her to be in a vegetative state.”

Beca shakes her head listening to Stacie talk, she sits closer to Stacie to comfort her. She sees this and rest her head on Beca’s shoulder. “She has to wake up. We-there’s so much that hasn’t even been done yet.” 

“I’m sorry.” Beca says and rubs her hand up and down Stacie’s back in a comforting motion.

“Aubrey had just gotten that promotion she had been working for this past year. She was going to come home with me sometime this summer and meet my family, then when her dads get home from this tour, we were going to see him and tell him that...” But she trailed off. “Now that may not even happen.”

Stacie then turned to look at Beca. “She has to wake up.” Then she broke down into sobs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Motivation please!


	5. Waiting

When Beca goes and visits Chloe in the hospital the next day she sees that the bandages is taken off her head and there is a cut around the hairline on Chloe’s forehead. It’s not that noticeable and her hair mostly covers it.

Chloe is also sleeping when she gets there so she decides not to wake her and sits beside her doing some schoolwork waiting for her to wake up.

It’s another hour before Chloe stirs and Beca looks up from her textbook. Chloe then looks over at Beca and smiles, “Becs you’re here.” She says in a quiet voice but with enthusiasm. 

“Of course I’m here, why wouldn’t I be.” Beca says before reaching out to the bed and gently taking Chloe’s hand.

Chloe just brightly smiles at her and Beca’s heart flutters at the sight. Something about knowing it’s her making Chloe smile like that warms her up inside.

“Have you heard anything on Aubrey?”

Beca takes a deep breather she was expecting this. She shakes her head yes but then looks away from Chloe. “Yeah, Stacie gave us an update last night after she came home from the hospital.”

“And?”

“I’ll call Stacie to come down here to tell you.” So Beca pulls out her phone and sends a text telling Stacie that Chloe wants to talk to her.

Stacie responds saying that they are coming to get Aubrey for another CT scan and that when they take her, she will be right down. 15 minutes goes by until they hear a knock at the door. “Hey Chlo, how are you feeling?” She says as she walks into the room, she walks around Chloe’s bed and sits on the other side across from Beca.

“My whole body hurts.” Chloe says. “Early this morning a police officer came in to talk to me about what happened at the accident to get my statement. He said the guy that hit us had a stroke behind the wheel and that’s why he didn’t stop.”

“Do you remember much from the accident?” Stacie asks.

The redhead nodded looking over at Stacie. “I honestly couldn’t forget it if I tried. I kept having nightmare from the accident last night.”

“Maybe you have a little PTSD from the accident. It was a pretty traumatic experience.” Beca speaks up, and Stacie nods in agreement. “But we will be here with you to help you get through it.”

“Thanks guys.” Chloe says looking at the both. It’s quiet for a little before Chloe looks back over at Stacie and asks. “So, how is Aubrey?”

The brunette takes a shaky breath. It’s so hard for her to talk about this but she has to inform Chloe. “Have the doctors talked to you about her?”

Chloe shakes her head no.

“Well… she’s in the ICU right now and the doctors said…” She trails off again. “When the car hit her, her left knee was knocked out of socket and she tore her LCL. Some ribs on her left side were broken due to the impact.” Chloe just stared at Stacie taking this all in.

“They said she must have hit her head pretty hard causing her brain to swell.”

Chloe’s eyes get teary when she realizes where this is going. She squeezes Beca’s hand a little tighter and the smaller girl brings her other hand up to Chloe’s shoulder.

Stacie gets starts to cry as she gets ready to tell her the next part. “She uh… She never woke up after the accident, the doctors ran some test and found that she had fallen into a coma.”

Chloe lets out a sob and Beca moves closer to her to comfort her. “Do they know when she will wake up?”

Stacie shakes her head no. “The doctor told me that they aren’t sure she will ever wake up. They say the longer she remains in a vegetative state the less likely it is for her to wake up.”

Chloe starts balling and Stacie and Beca move closer, as close as they can due to the hospital bed, and they try their best to comfort her. It takes a while for Chloe to calm down. Eventually her cries turn into occasional sniffles.

“Is there anything they can do for her?” The redhead says in a small voice.

Stacie just shook her head. “At this point she just needs to wake up.”

Chloe nods her head and looks at her lap. She then places one of her hands over Beca’s and squeezes it tight. 

Beca looks at her and gives the redhead a said smile because she wishes she could take the pain away, from both Chloe and Stacie. But she knows she can’t and the only thing she can do now is be there for them both.

It’s silent for a while and Stacie is about to go back to Aubrey’s room when Chloe suddenly says her name.

“Yeah?” She responds.

“You were the person Aubrey was secretly dating weren’t you.” She doesn’t say it in an accusing tone or harshly. But it still leaves Stacie shocked.

“What? I-Uh Aubrey’s seeing someone?” She says trying to play it off because she doesn’t know how Aubrey would react when/if she wakes up to Chloe knowing about them. Especially when Aubrey was the one who wanted to keep it to themselves still and not tell anyone.

The older girl just smiles at her. “It’s okay Stacie, Beca already confirmed it. I know about you two.”

Stacie slightly glares at Beca who just shrugs her shoulders, not really affected by the glare. “Yeah we are together.”

“Why didn’t you tell us, or at least me?”

“I don’t know, I was all for telling you guys I just wanted to go at Aubrey’s pace. I left it up to her and I wasn’t going to rush it. I mean it was nice just having this to ourselves and honestly, the sneaking around is kind of hot.” Chloe giggled at that.

“It wasn’t like we were just keeping this from you Chlo, Beca wasn’t even supposed to find out.”

“I wish I hadn’t.” Beca grumbled.

“It’s okay Stacie, I’m not mad or upset. You were respecting Aubrey and what she wanted.” Stacie smiled before Chloe continued, “Besides, I’m happy Aubrey found someone for her. As independent as she is, she still needs someone to be there for her.”

Stacie shook her head in agreement before she stood up. “I should probably go now and check to see if Aubrey is back from her CT scan.”

They say their goodbye’s as Stacie gets up to leave, leaving the two of them alone in the room again. 

As she leaves Chloe’s doctor comes in and tells her she is going to be discharged next morning if her progress continues like this. They want to monitor her for the next 24 hours to watch signs for a concussion. 

Chloe smiles at having to only stay at the hospital one more night, she can’t wait to get back into her own bed.

“That’s good Chlo, you’ll be back home with all the Bella’s in no time.”

“Yeah I’ve missed you all, it’s a little to calm here.”

Beca laughs and looks at the time on her phone and realizes that she should have left five minutes ago for her class. 

“Chlo I gotta get to class, I’ll come back later if you want me to.” She says standing up and getting her stuff. “Or I could send someone else to keep you company.”

“You can send someone else I don’t care. But Becs could I ask a favor?”

“Yeah, anything.”

“Can you spend the night? I keep having nightmares and I don’t like waking up alone.”

Beca just nods. “Of course, I’ll pack a night bag.” She leans over the bed and kisses Chloe just below the cut on her forehead. “I’ll see you tonight then Chlo.”

+++

Stacie makes it up to the fifth floor before walking down the hallway and entering the ICU. She walks over to Aubrey’s room and before she enters, she looks through the door to see someone already in the room with Aubrey.

She opens the door causing the person in the chair to turn and look at her. The man stands up and Stacie swallows thickly as she has to look up to look this guy in the eye.

The man looks at her up and down before taking a deep breath and says, “Who are you?”

“I’m Stacie, Stacie Conrad. I was in the Bella’s with Aubrey.” She says. “And you are?”

“I’m Hunter Posen, Aubrey’s father.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun Dunnnnnn


	6. A Long Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't like talk of abuse, maybe skip the end of this chapter.

“I’m Hunter Posen, Aubrey’s father.”

Stacie swallowed thickly. She knew one day she would have to meet Aubrey’s father; she just didn’t think it would be like this.

She thought she’d have time to prepare herself at the very least.

It was silent and she knew she needed to say something before it got awkward. But all that came out was a small “Oh.” She wanted to smack her forehead for how dumb she sounded. 

“Have a seat Stacie.” The General said motioning to the seat on the opposite side of the bed from his. She walked further into the room and around the bed sitting down in the chair.

It was silent form a while, an awkward tension in the air as they both sat on either side of the bed looking at an unconscious Aubrey. 

Suddenly he broke the silence asking Stacie, “So, Stacie you said you are in the Bella’s with Aubrey?” 

Stacie nods her head. “Yes sir, she was my captain her senior year.”

He nodded slightly. “That’s nice. I’m assuming you guys stayed good friends then.”

Stacie tensed up because yeah they stayed good friends for the first few months… Until they started dating. 

But he didn’t need to know that.

It wasn’t Stacie’s place to tell him that they were a couple. Especially when that was something Aubrey was so stressed over doing. Besides she didn’t want to say something that would have Aubrey upset with her when she woke up.

“Yeah we’re just friends.” Not realizing how she phrased it and what it sounded like.

But the look he gave her made it seem like maybe he didn’t believe her. That made Stacie stomach drop because how could he know anything about them when Aubrey said she was nothing but careful when on the phone with him.

After that it was silent again after that. The only sound in the room was the sound of Aubrey’s ventilator and her heart monitor.

Stacie looked everywhere around the room, everywhere but General Posen. But she could feel his eyes on her and felt as if she was melting and just wanted to sink into her chair.

Why was this so awkward? She kept asking herself.

“You know she talks about you a lot.”

“Hmm?” Stacie hummed looking at him. She wasn’t sure she heard him right.

“When we talk on the phone. She mentions you a lot.”

“Oh… that’s nice to know.”

“Yeah more than she talks about Chloe.”

“Well we are really close sir.” Stacie said getting nervous because why was he bringing Chloe into this.

“That’s good.” He said before sitting up in his chair leaning forward onto his elbows. “You need to be close to the person you’re dating.”

Stacie choked on air because how could he know. Aubrey would have told her if she had told him. “I beg your pardon?”

“You’re Aubrey’s girlfriend.” He said with no expression.

“I uh… I didn’t know she told you.”

“She didn’t but you just did.” He said and for the first time he cracked a small smile.

Stacie opened her mouth to say something but closed it instead.

“I’ve had my suspicions for a while, you didn’t just give it away. She’s been happy, different on the phone when we talked, and I figured it was because she was seeing someone. I assumed she would tell me on her own and didn’t push the subject. Then she started talking about you a lot, a lot more than she talked about Chloe and eventually I put it together that it was you she was seeing.”

“And you’re okay with it? With me being- “

“With you being a woman? No, I stopped talking to her for a few months and didn’t visit her in between tours. As a man who grew up in the deep south, very religious and conservative upbringing, it was hard for me. I’ve been raised and taught that this type of behavior is wrong.”

“Then why are you here?” Stacie said as she upset with Aubrey’s father. She remembers being with Aubrey during those few months. She normally got to talk to her father twice or maybe three times a month if she was lucky. And there were these 3 months where it was radio silent from him. Nothing at all.

Aubrey was so sad and confused and it hurt Stacie to watch. Aubrey tried to hide the fact that her father stopped calling but Stacie saw right through it.

“I’m sure Aubrey told you about what happened to her mom?” He asked and Stacie shook her head yes. “When they told us, it was terminal, and no amount of treatment would be able to prevent her death I felt so helpless. My wife was dying, and I couldn’t save her. It took me some time, but I realized how I was acting was wrong. I lost my wife an unfortunate circumstance out of my control but losing my daughter based on sexuality was my doing and something I had the ability to control. Besides my brother she’s the only family I have left, and I love her. It says in the bible to ‘Love each other as I have loved you’. I wasn’t living up to my part and being a very good father. I know I’ve been distant, but I want to make up for it.”

“So, you’re okay with it?”

“I’m trying, I’m not there yet but I will get there.” Stacie just shook her head because really that went better than she expected. He was putting effort into trying and that’s what mattered.

It was quiet again before he spoke up, “I’m not going to say anything about this talk to Aubrey.”

“Why not?”

“Because I want to hear it from her and to have her be able to tell me. I know it may take a while, but I want her to come to me. She used to tell me things, but she stopped and I’m hoping she’ll open up again.”

Stacie just shook her head agreeing with him, promising not to say anything about their talk either. The General looked at his watch and announced he only had one more hour here until he had to be back on the plane.

Stacie asked why he couldn’t stay longer, and he explained that he was in the middle of a tour and that he only could have a certain amount of time off. But he promised to be back when they called with any change in her condition.

She could see he was upset about not having more time with his daughter, but she knew that his job was also very important, and he couldn’t just stop in the middle of duty.

They sat in silence again but this time it wasn’t as awkward as it was before. Like a weight was lifted. Eventually he announced he was running to get a coffee and asked it Stacie wanted one. She declined but thanked him.

After he left, she took a deep breath because that was tough. The General was an intimidating man and the conversation they had wasn’t the easiest. She grabbed Aubrey’s left hand brought it up to her lips and gave her a light kiss on the outside of her hand. She then turned her hand over and gave a gentle kiss on the palm of her hand.

She looked at Aubrey just lying there, he breathes in sync with the sound of the machine she was hooked up to. Stacie let out a small sigh.

She then looked at Aubrey and told her how much she loved her and needed her to wake up. Stacie then took Aubrey’s left hand in between her own and held them up resting her forehead against them.

She sat there like that for a while before she heard the door to her room open up and Aubrey’s father walked back in.

“So, Stacie what was it you are majoring in? Aubrey’s mentioned it before, but I can’t remember.”

“Naval engineering sir.”

He looked slightly surprised but nodded before taking a sip of his coffee. “What do you plan on doing with that degree?”

“I’d like to one day repair propellers on nuclear submarines.”

He shook his head. “That’s a pretty hard job, it’s nice to see Aubrey dating someone who has high aspirations and goals.”

Stacie smiled at that because that sounded faintly like some sort of approval of her.

“Tell me Stacie what do your parents do?”

And that’s when Stacie’s stomach dropped and the bit of excitement she had from his approval went away.

“My uh... my mom is a child abuse counselor.”

He shook his head and took another sip of his coffee before saying, “And your father?”

Stacie looked down at the ground before answering in a small voice, “My father… he’s in jail.”

Aubrey’s dad was about to take a sip of his coffee again but stopped. “I beg your pardon?”

Stacie took a deep breath knowing that she would have to talk about it. She’s sure if she said she didn’t want to she wouldn’t have too but she might as well rip the band aid off now.

Stacie’s very first memory is her mom yelling at her to run upstairs and lock herself in her room and not to come out until her mom told her to. She can remember sitting against her bedroom door crying as she heard her father screaming at her mom and the sound of something being hit.

Sometimes her mom was able to tell Stacie to go up to her room so she wouldn’t have to see her father beat her mom, but sometimes her father would just snap and grab her mom by the hair and slam her into the closest thing.

Those times it was unavoidable.

It seemed to get worse the older Stacie got or maybe that was just because she could understand it more and was able to processes what was going on better.

She tried to tell someone. She was in second grade when her paternal grandmother came and picked her up from school one day. She explained how she was scared to go home because of how her dad would hit her mom and her grandmother just sat her down and told her that telling lies was a sin.

She asked why she didn’t believe her, and her grandmother told her that her son was a good husband and father who loved his family and his wife very much.

Stacie didn’t bring it up again because it was that day, she was taught from her grandmother that love is abuse. That when you love someone you beat them.

She eventually made the decision to never fall in love because why would she want someone to treat her the same way her father treats her mother.

One day in third grade Stacie came home to her father shouting at her mother in the kitchen. Stacie went to see what was happening and found her father pointing a gun at her mother.

Her mother saw her standing in the entrance way of the kitchen and looked away from her father for a second to look at Stacie. Her father then screamed at her mother to look at him when she was talking to him and pistol whipped her.

Stacie screamed as her mother fell to the ground and her father turned around. Stacie looked at her in fear as he walked up to her. He crouched down and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.

In the background she could hear her mother shouting at him not to hurt her. He brought Stacie close to him and told her not to tell anyone about this and if she did the next time the gun would be loaded. He then pushed Stacie and walked away.

She lived through another year of fear, nights of her father screaming at her mother, the sound of things banging and occasional trips to the hospital. 

He never touched her though. Her mother was able to protect her and keep the abuse to herself.

That was until Stacie had gotten into a fight with a girl at school and they had to call home. She prayed that her mother would be the one to answer the phone.

That day when she left school it was her father who picked her up and Stacie knew she was in trouble. He said nothing the whole way home. When she got inside, she turned around to look at him and he smacked her across the face.

He shouted at her for getting into a fight with that girl and Stacie tried to explain how it was a misunderstanding, but he didn’t listen. He just kept hitting her until she couldn’t get up anymore.

She couldn’t even cry it hurt to much. She wondered where her mom was and why she wasn’t home, why she had left him alone with her dad.

She was sure he was going to kill her. She just layed there taking the beating until he stopped and left her there. Just lying on the kitchen floor.

Stacie lied on the floor bleeding and barely breathing when she heard the front door open. She couldn’t move but when her mom walked in, she screamed and crouched down next to Stacie.

Her dad then came down the stairs with the gun in his hand and pointed it at her mom. Her mom shouted at him asking why he did this to her. He yelled at her for talking that way to him and her mom stood up claiming she wasn’t scared of him.

He set the gun down on the kitchen table and grabbed Stacie’s mom and threw her around. But this time instead of taking it she fought back. She tried her best, but he eventually took a knife out of the drawer and stabbed her in the stomach. In a last attempt to save her and Stacie, she grabbed the gun and shot her father in the leg. 

She wasn’t sure how they got there but next thing she knew she was in the hospital. Everything happened so quickly after that. Her mom pressed charges, got a restraining order against her father for both her and her mom in case he didn’t go to jail.

But it wasn’t long before he ended up in jail on two assault charges and an attempted murder account. They would be safe from him.

In the middle of her fourth-grade year they moved from Pennsylvania to Seattle, Washington. It was then she met her best friend Beca, someone who she was able to be completely open with about her past who didn’t judge her for what happened. Someone, who ten years later, she was still best friends with.

She looked at Aubrey’s father who was already looking at her and took a deep breath. “It’s a long story but he was very abusive. He’s in jail for two counts of assault and attempted murder.”

Aubrey father look softened. “Oh… I’m very sorry. I didn’t know-“

“It’s fine.” Stacie said brushing it off. “It’s not something I like to talk about, but it happened. We’ve moved on and my mom went back to school and became a counselor for children living in abusive homes. We are in a much better place now.”

They talked a little while longer before he announced that he would have to be leaving to catch his flight. He stood up and put his hand out for her to shake. She quickly stood up and shook it.

As she did, he said to her. “I like you a lot Stacie, I’m glad she has someone like you here for her.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome you take care of her.” Then he left.

Stacie just took a deep breath and sat back down because today had been exhausting. She sat with Aubrey for a another before she left to head back to the Bella’s house to get some rest.

As she was leaving the hospital, she ran into Beca who looked like she was in a hurry to get up to Chloe’s room.

“Ohh, you spending the night?” Stacie said moving her eyebrows up and down.

“Shut up dude.” Beca said smacking her with her overnight bag.

“You’ll never believe the day I had.”

“Really? You’ll have to tell me about it tomorrow.”

“I will you enjoy your night with Chlo.” She said and then blew Beca a kiss.

“Shut up” Beca said before leaving. Stacie just looked at Beca walk away and realized how glad she was to have someone like her in her life.

She then got into her car and drove back home to the house to get some rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments please, I love hearing your guys opinions on this story!


	7. Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be deleted when the next one comes out.

So turns out the covid I had a few months ago wasn't the only condition I had and I'm now really sick with frequent hospital visits. Sorry it is taking me so long to update I just need time to heal before another chapter comes out. I write whenever I'm feeling better but that's not often. So please just stick with me guys, I'll finish this story but due to health it may take longer than planned.


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